Return to the Fair
by Endaewen
Summary: It's a year later, and the title says it all. Sequel to Faire Things.


**Title:** Return to the Fair

**Author:** Endaewen

**Rating:** G

**Summary:** It's a year later, and the title says it all. Sequel to Faire Things.

**Fandom:** Forever Knight

**Disclaimer:** None of the characters or settings belong to me. All of them are the property of the creators of Forever Knight. The Royal Winter Fair exists and runs through the beginning of November in Toronto each year. If you get a chance to see the Clyde Ride (I think that's the group's name) it's worth it.

**Archiving: **FKFanfic 2, the FTP site, wherever. Just, please let me know.

It was a typical early November night in Toronto. Dark, wet, with a mix of sleet and rain, and miserable. The weather had been like that for the past week, leaving roads and sidewalks slippery and hazardous. Even the criminals were staying inside, and therefore, mostly out of trouble. As a result, both Nick and Natalie had the night off. When they had found out, several days earlier, they had planned on spending it at the loft, watching movies.

For once, Natalie hadn't pushed for a marathon of vampire movies, much to Nick's relief. Instead, she'd agreed to a somewhat different plan, a marathon of the Highlander sort, having found out that Nick had never seen them.

However, yesterday, they'd discovered a hitch in the plan: namely that there'd been a small leak in the roof of the loft, leading to water damage to the TV and VCR. While Nick had been able to get the leak fixed, the TV and VCR still had to be replaced. He'd ordered new ones, but they probably wouldn't arrive for at least another two or three days.

So, Natalie had stayed home tonight instead, and Nick was looking for something to do. He'd already discovered that he had no inspiration for painting. At only four in the afternoon, although it was getting dark, it wasn't quite dark enough for it to be safe for him to go out, though it would be soon. Not to mention that although the cold wouldn't affect him very much, the vampire wasn't all that fond of either rain or sleet, both of which were coming down quite heavily. Finally, he ended up flipping through several days worth of newspapers that had been piling up, waiting to be read.

_Crime...politics...scandal...more politics_...He skimmed through the pages, not seeing anything too interesting in the paper from the day before, although he had to laugh at some of the headlines. At least until he reached the sports section. There the headline announced the opening of the Royal Winter Fair that day. Included in the article was a timetable of events for the duration of the fair. _That's an idea,_ he thought with a spark of interest.

_Natalie told me last year, when she took me to the Royal last year, that it was a yearly tradition for her to go. Perhaps she'd be interested in going tonight._ With that thought in mind, he dialed her number. When she answered, he suggested the idea.

That's not a bad idea. I'd not even thought of going to the Royal as a possibility, although, given my work schedule, I don't know when else I'd get to go this year. I heard on the radio earlier that attendance was down from the forecasted numbers, so it probably wouldn't even be that crowded.

"Probably due to the weather," Nick replied. "I had a lot of fun when you took me last year, which is why I thought of it when I saw the article."

Thanks for suggesting it, Nick.

"You're welcome," he replied. "Given the weather, I'll drive. Should I meet you outside your apartment in about a half hour?" he asked. "It'll be safe enough for me by then. That's the only advantage to these winter evenings, one which the weather more or less negates most of the time," he added.

Sounds good to me, she replied.

Just over a half an hour later, Nick was waiting outside Natalie's apartment. Not that he had to wait more than a few minutes before she came out to the car, well prepared for the evening and wet weather.

On the way to the Royal, the two discussed the possible things to see and do that evening. Nick had the timetable from the paper with him, although he remembered that they had been given programs at the gate the previous year. Luckily, although the traffic report playing quietly in the background was full of reports of traffic stoppages from the weather and slippery roads, the route they took was free of any major delays.

They arrived soon after five, and were in the building before five thirty, giving them close to five hours before the Royal closed for the night.

As expected, they were each given a detailed program of the day's events when they paid the admission. Moving off to one side of the traffic, they took a moment to see what was on where, and at what times.

"It seems like most of the evening's action is the horses. There's been mostly rodeo and western classes today, but in a couple of hours it's going to be draft horses, finishing up with the Canadian Clyde Ride," Nick said, looking at the schedule.

"Why don't we look at the other exhibits first then, and finish up with the horses. By that time, we should be glad for a chance to sit down." Natalie suggested. "Besides, I'd like to get some dinner before too long," she added.

So, for the next two hours, they wandered through the building. Past the 4H displays, the produce, and the crafts, as well as the games. The first stop they made was for Natalie to get her dinner. She teased Nick by offering him some of the burger and was surprised when he actually took one or two of her fries. She finished with a bag of cotton candy, which he tried also, and as with the previous year, felt no ill effects, though he didn't take a lot. After that, they took a few tries at the various games. Although Natalie failed spectacularly on her try, not even managing to pop one of the balloons, it was clear to Nick that she was having a good time. Nick however, didn't miss once, and managed to win a fairly large prize, a teddy bear the size of a toddler, which he promptly presented to Natalie. Laughing, she accepted.

Periodically, Nick would tell her of some anecdote from his mortal days. One such was in front of the spinners and weavers display. At that booth there were several people displaying their craft. One was using some sort of hand spindle, while the other two were each demonstrating different types of spinning wheels. There were others on display as well, though not in use.

"My mother and all of the women of the household spent most of their free time spinning like that," he said quietly, pointing at the woman demonstrating the drop spindle. The two of them were standing off to the side and Nick was speaking quietly, just loud enough for Natalie to hear him over the background noise. "They made most of the cloth used by the family for clothing and other needs. I remember that Fleur was just as capable by the time she was eight. When they weren't spinning, they would be either weaving the cloth or sewing it into clothing. The woman's life was a busy one, even for the nobility. She had to be just as capable as any man, though in different areas." He continued to reminisce for a few more minutes before falling silent. Before they left the display, Natalie bought herself a new toque and mittens. They went into the bag with the honey and other things she'd bought earlier.

Soon after that, the two stopped to watch the blacksmith displaying his art. There, Natalie purchased a couple of miniature horse shoes. "For Tracy and Grace," she said with a smile at his quizzical look. Tracy especially, could use all the luck she can get. Besides, it's good for a laugh."

Eventually, they turned to the main events of the evening: the horse show. Watching the draft horses, Nick and Natalie amused themselves by predicting who was going to win each class. Nick was right nearly every time, so after a few classes, Natalie started to ask him why he made the choices he did, rather than attempting to make her own guesses. Pretty soon, it had turned into a fun lesson in the finer points of driving, presentation and conformation, which had even drawn in the two children sitting in the row in front of them, who, it was clear to the impromptu teacher were listening intently.

The evening closed with a display from the Canadian Clyde Ride, which was stunning. The two could feel the vibration from the massive Clydesdale horses shaking the arena as they went through their demonstration of precision drill team maneuvers. It made a fine closer for the evening, and all the attendees left chattering about what they'd seen that day. Caught in the middle of the stream of humanity with Natalie, Nick found the experience rather overwhelming to his sensitive hearing. Not to mention the challenge of not being separated from Natalie in the crowd. Although, it would probably be fairly easy for him to find her again, the experience likely wouldn't improve the evening any, he decided.

Compared with the various conversations the vampire could hear in the parking lot, the two of them found his car relatively quickly, and soon they were on their way back to Natalie's apartment.

Once the car had warmed up, Natalie was the first to break the silence. "I had a lot of fun this evening. I'm glad you thought of the Royal. Thank you."

"No," he countered, "thank you, Nat. I wouldn't have thought of it if you hadn't taken me last year."

He dropped her off at her apartment, before driving home, thinking that this was something he'd like to make a yearly event.


End file.
